Re: How
prisoner warders came to be called 'Screws'

: Something I've just discovered, and which doesn't seem
to be in my reference books. The following about a 'screw' came up on a repeat
BBC TV programme in the series 'What the Victorians did for us', in an episode
about police and prisons, which even showed the cranking machine described below.

:
Screwed: To be screwed. Although it is a slang /colloquial expression for sexual
intercourse, also means to be cheated, put in a disadvantageous position. This
latter meaning seems to be related to the use of 'screw' as a slang name for a
prison guard or warder. Until the mid 1800s, prisons, at least in England, were
places of punishment only, with no concept of rehabilitation for the prisoners.
One of the forms of punishment was to crank a handle attached to a large wooden
box. The cranking did nothing, other than turn a counter. The prisoner had to
do 10,000 turns in 8 hours, equivalent to one every 3 seconds or so. As an extra
punishment a warder could tighten a screw to make turning more difficult. Warders
came to be known as 'screws'. By inference, the prisoner was 'screwed' and, although
'screw' remained within the prison environment, eventually 'to be screwed' became
widespread.

: Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to you.

SCREW - ".as underworld
slang for a prison guard dating back to the mid-19th century, 'screw' was suggested
by someone harsh and brutal, one who used thumbscrews on prisoners." From the
"Encyclopedia of Word and Phrase Origins" by Robert Hendrickson (Facts on File,
New York, 1997).